President Barack Obama

As the economic news goes from bad to disastrous, and the lame-duck President Bush becoming increasingly irrelevant, the world is already turning to President-elect Barack Obama to lead America out of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, which he plans to do in part by creating 2.5 million jobs through a major public works program that includes rebuilding roads and bridges and modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient automobiles.

President-elect Barack Obama said, “These aren’t just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long.”

Obama’s objective is to steer his infrastructure investment plan rapidly through Congress, facilitated by assistance from both political parties, after Barack Obama is inaugurated as the nation’s 44th president on January 20, 2009. In his radio broadcast, Obama indicated that he sees 2.5 million new jobs added by 2011 if his plan is adopted. With the U.S. economy shedding jobs at an alarming rate, it is clear that a jobs creation program is a top priority for the incoming Obama administration.

The incoming Obama administration will inherit many economic and financial disasters from the outgoing Bush administration, not the least the imploding automobile industry. The big three Detroit carmakers are all on the verge of bankruptcy. If GM, Ford and Chrysler are dissolved, millions of workers will lose their jobs. The numbers are high because many spin-off businesses depend on Detroit, including parts suppliers, advertising agencies, dealerships and service centers.

Barack Obama stated as a high priority while campaigning facilitating the retooling of Detroit to build a new generation of fuel-efficient cars, leading to the creation of many new jobs. It is clear that President Barack Obama, early in his administration, will need to focus on saving America’s auto industry. Speculation has centered on the creation of czar for the auto industry, and Obama may very well follow through on that possibility. Whatever is decided, Obama’s policies regarding America’s troubled auto industry will impact the health of the overall economy at a time of global economic crisis.